USF names Daniel Da Prato as interim head coach, Ernie Sims as defensive coordinator

USF shook things up within their football program on Sunday with the dismissals of head coach Jeff Scott and DC Bob Shoop. Scott was just 4-26 in his time with the Bulls while Shoop’s defense was ranked 129th out of 131 teams through nine games this season. However, with three games left, they were in need of new leadership for the time being and the school has now announced who will be tasked with those jobs to end the season.

In the press release that announced the firings of Scott and Shoop, USF named special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato as the team’s interim head coach. It also named co-defensive coordinator and linebacker’s coach Ernie Sims as the team’s interim DC.

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Da Prato joined the program back in December 2019 as part of Scott’s first staff at USF. With him in charge, the Bulls had one of the more efficient special teams units in the nation. He came to Tampa after stints with Arkansas, Colorado, Montana State, and Sacramento State. Sims was also a part of Scott’s first staff after starting his coaching career under Lane Kiffin at FAU in 2018.

This pair will be left with the difficult task of helping to hold the program and team together in the wake of this decision. They’ll have a week to get acclimated, though, before they coach their first game in their new roles against SMU this Saturday.

USF AD Michael Kelly on the firing of Jeff Scott

USF’s loss to Temple yesterday was the Bull’s seventh consecutive defeat and eighth overall of the season. It also is now the straw that broke the camel’s back down in Tampa. That’s because the athletics program announced the firing of head coach Jeff Scott earlier this evening following the team’s 1-8 start to the season.

This decision from USF AD Michael Kelly ends Scott’s three-year tenure as head football coach at USF. It also ended DC Bob Shoop’s time with the program too per the release from the school.

“When Jeff came to Tampa in December of 2019, we had high expectations for where he could take our football program,” said Kelly in the athletic department’s press release. “While he did so many things right, including rebuilding our culture, pushing forward our Indoor Performance Facility, and engaging our community, the on-the-field results fell well below our standards. He is a tremendous person and class individual and we wish him, Sara, Savannah and Hunter all the best in the future…In the days ahead, I will share information about our search for a new head coach. Our focus right now is on the talented young men in our football program.”